 | This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "High church" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(August 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
High church refers to Christian beliefs and practices of Christianecclesiology,liturgy, andtheology which emphasize "ritual, priestly authority, [and]sacraments," and a standardliturgy.[1] Although used in connection with variousChristian traditions such ashigh church Lutheranism, the English termhigh church originated in theAnglican tradition, where it described achurchmanship in which a number ofritual practices associated in the popular mind withRoman Catholicism were used, or as a description of such practices in the Catholic Church and elsewhere. The opposite tradition islow church. Contemporary media discussing Anglican churches often prefer the termsevangelical tolow church andAnglo-Catholic tohigh church, even though their meanings do not exactly correspond.[clarification needed] Other Christian denominations that containhigh church wings include somePresbyterian andMethodist churches. These High-Church Protestants tend to adopt more liturgical and ritually extravagant forms of worship common in Lutheranism and Anglicanism, such as grandiose processions, elaborate music, and historic prayers.[2]
Because of its history, the termhigh church also refers to aspects ofAnglicanism quite distinct from theOxford Movement or Anglo-Catholicism. The Conformists originally referenced the elaborate liturgy and ornate architecture ofLutheranism to advocate for the same in Anglicanism; in 1715, the Anglican prelateSir William Dawes, 3rd Baronet noted that the "Lutheran religion...[goes] much farther; and are not only more abundant in their Ceremonies, but in the Pomp and Splendor of their Churches where Images and Pictures of Saints and Holy Men are expos'd to publick View on purpose to excite the frequenters of those Sacred Places to the Imitation of their Examples."[3][4]
There remain parishes that arehigh church and yet adhere closely to the quintessentially Anglican usages and liturgical practices of theBook of Common Prayer. These are now referred to asCentre Church.
High church Anglicanism tends to be closer than low church toRoman Catholic,Lutheran andEastern Orthodox teachings and spirituality; its hallmarks are relatively elaborate music,altarpieces, and clergyvestments and an emphasis onsacraments.[3][4] It is intrinsicallytraditional. Though Lutheranism in general emphasizes liturgy and views its faith and practice as "deeply and fundamentally catholic", within Lutheranism there is a historichigh church andlow church distinction comparable with Anglicanism (seeEvangelical Catholicism,Neo-Lutheranism andPietism).[5][6]
High church nonetheless includes many bishops, other clergy and adherents sympathetic to mainstream modern consensus across reformed Christianity that, according to official Roman Catholic, Confessional Lutheran, and Eastern Orthodox Christian teachings, areanathema (see theordination of women).
The termhigh church has also been applied to elements of other Protestant churches within which individual congregations or ministers display a division in their liturgical practices, for example,high churchPresbyterianism andhigh churchMethodism. High church Presbyterians and High church Methodists prefer more liturgical and architectural grandiosity, with emphasis on historic traditions and rituals.
.jpg)
High church is aback-formation from "high churchman", a label used in the 17th and early 18th centuries to describe opponents of religioustoleration, with "high" meaning "extreme".[7] As thePuritans began demanding that the English Church abandon some of its traditionalliturgical emphases,episcopal structures, parish ornaments and the like, thehigh church position also came to be distinguished increasingly from that of theLatitudinarians, also known as those promoting a broad church, who sought to minimise the differences between Anglicanism and Reformed Christianity, and to make the church as inclusive as possible by opening its doors as widely as possible to admit other Christian viewpoints.
Though many remained Anglican, over time certain 'leading lights' of theOxford Movement became Roman Catholics, following the path ofJohn Henry Newman, one of the fathers of the Oxford Movement and, for a time, a high churchman himself. A lifelong High Churchman, the ReverendEdward Bouverie Pusey remained the spiritual father of the Oxford Movement who remained a priest in the Church of England. To a lesser extent, looking back from the 19th century, the termhigh church also came to be associated with the beliefs of theCaroline divines and with the pietistic emphases of the period, practised by theLittle Gidding community, such asfasting and lengthy preparations before receiving theEucharist.
During the reign of KingJames I, there were attempts to diminish the growth of party feeling within the Church of England, and indeed to reconcile to the Church moderate Puritans who did not already conform to the Established Church or who had left the Church in recent years. The project to create the Authorized Version of the Bible was one such attempt at reconciliation. The continued use of theKing James version of the Bible, by Anglicans and other Protestants alike in the English-speaking world, is a reflection of the success of this endeavour at cooperation.
During the reign of KingCharles I, however, as divisions between Puritan and Anglican elements within the Church of England became more bitter, andProtestant Nonconformity outside the Church grew stronger in numbers and more vociferous, theHigh Church position became associated with the leadership of theHigh Church Archbishop of Canterbury,William Laud, (seeLaudianism), and government policy to curtail the growth ofProtestant Dissent in England and the other possessions of the Crown. See, for example, the attempt to reimpose episcopacy on theChurch of Scotland, a policy that was 'successful' until the reign of William and Mary, when the office of bishop was discontinued except among the small minority of Scots who belonged to the Scottish Episcopal Church.
In the wake of the disestablishment of Anglicanism and the persecution of Anglican beliefs and practices under theCommonwealth, the return of the Anglican party to power in theCavalier Parliament saw a strong revival of theHigh Church position in the English body politic. Victorious after a generation of struggle, the Anglican gentry felt the need to re-entrench the re-Anglicanised Church of England as one of the most important elements of theRestoration Settlement through a renewed and strengthened alliance between Throne and Altar, or Church and State. Reverence for martyrdom of the Stuart kingCharles I as an upholder of his Coronation Oath to protect the Church of England became a hallmark ofHigh Church orthodoxy.
At the same time, the Stuart dynasty was expected to maintain its adherence to Anglicanism. This became an important issue for the High Church party and it was to disturb the Restoration Settlement under Charles II's brother,James II of England, a convert to Roman Catholicism, and lead to setbacks for theHigh Church party. These events culminated in theGlorious Revolution and the exclusion of the Catholic Stuarts from the British throne. The subsequent split over office-holders' oaths of allegiance to the Crown and the Royal Succession, which led to the exclusion of theNon-Juror bishops who refused to recognise the 1688 de facto abdication of the King, and the accession ofKing William III andQueen Mary II, and did much to damage the unity ofHigh Church party.
Later events surrounding the attempts of theJacobites, the adherents of the excluded dynasts, to regain the English and Scottish thrones, led to a sharpening of anti-Catholic rhetoric in Britain and a distancing of the High Church party from the more ritualistic aspects of Caroline High churchmanship, which were often associated with the schismaticNon-Jurors.Thomas Hancorne, a Welsh clergyman prominent in jacobite circles, gave theCounty of Swansea's assize sermon on 18 April 1710 (The right way to honour and happiness), during which he complained of the "rapid growth of deist, freethinking and anti-trinitarian views."[8][9] The targets of Hancorne's wrath were "irreligion, profaneness and immorality", as well as the "curious, inquisitive sceptics" and the "sin-sick tottering nation". Later, he engaged in a campaign to reasserttithe rights.[10] Eventually, underQueen Anne, the High Church party saw its fortunes revive with those of theTory party, with which it was then strongly associated.
However, under the earlyHanoverians, both the High Church and Tory parties were once again out of favour. This led to an increasing marginalisation of High Church and Tory viewpoints, as much of the 18th century was given over to the rule of the Whig party and the aristocratic families who were in large measure pragmatic latitudinarians in churchmanship. This was also theAge of Reason, which marked a period of great spiritual somnolence and stultification in the Church of England.
Thus, by the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th, those liturgical practices prevalent even in High Church circles were not of the same tenor as those later found under the Catholic revival of the 19th century. High Church clergy and laity were often termedhigh and dry, in reference to their traditionalhigh attitude with regard to political position of the Church in England, anddry faith, which was accompanied by an austere but decorous mode of worship, as reflective of their idea of an orderly and dignified churchmanship against the rantings of the low churchmen that theirCavalier ancestors had defeated. Over time, their High Church position had become ossified among a remnant of bookish churchmen and country squires. An example of an early 19th-century churchman of this tradition is SirRobert Inglis MP.
Only with the success of theOxford Movement and its increasing emphases onritualistic revival from the mid-19th century onward, did the termHigh Church begin to mean something approaching the later termAnglo-Catholic. Even then, it was only employed coterminously in contrast to theLow churchmanship of theEvangelical position. This sought, once again, to lessen the separation of Anglicans (the Established Church) from the majority of ProtestantNonconformists, who by this time included theMethodists as well as adherents of older Protestant denominations likeBaptists,Congregationalists, andPresbyterians known by the group termOld Dissent.
In contrast to the Old High Church's alliance with theTories, Anglo-Catholicism became increasingly associated withsocialism, theLabour Party and greater decision-making liberty for the church's convocations.From the mid-19th century onward, the termHigh Church generally became associated with a moreAnglo-Catholic, while theLatitudinarians were referred to as beingBroad Church and the re-emergentevangelical party was dubbedLow Church. However,high church can still refer to Anglicans of the pre-Oxford movementHigh Church, who hold ahigh view of the sacraments, church tradition and the threefold ministry but do not consider themselves Anglo-Catholics. This party is now calledCentre Church, or theOld High Church to differenciate it from the even higher Anglo-Catholic position.
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)